The official newsletter of Blue Morning Expressions - where the creativity never stops. Home of handcrafted polymer clay beads, canes and jewelry.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Royally Purple

Okay, who does not like purple? I know a few of us use it in a majority of our designs, and why not? Purple is the color of royalty because it was so expensive to produce. Remember my Snail Spit post a few years ago? http://bmebluprint.blogspot.com/2013/04/oh-snail-spit-and-drama.html
Here are some of the most expensive purple stones I could find.

Alexandrite

This stone is capable of changing colors and is derived from chrysoberyl. It may appear purple at night, but green during the day. It can run $45,000 per carat. It is the birthstone of the June babies.

Taaffeite

This purple gemstone was not even discovered to be purple until it was cut open and faceted. It is also available in red. It is considered the rarest of all gemstones.

Purple Garnet

Most people are familiar with the red garnet, but there is a purple version of this pretty stone. It is the blue garnet (which is the rarest of garnets) under an incandescent light. It can run $3,000 a carat. The garnet is a January birthstone.

Tanzanite

This is one of my all time favs. It was discovered in Tanzania in 1967, and up until then, the blue version was the most commonly seen. It is a variety of the zoisite and today’s December baby gets to claim it as theirs.

Purple Apatite

This group of minerals are a good source of phosphorus and commonly found in fertilizer. Apatite is usually found as a green stone, but the purple version is a translucent or transparent stone that has a glassy luster and a lot of clarity.

In addition to these lovely and expensive purples, we have the most commonly used purple stones like amethyst, purple flourite, purple topaz, agate, chalcedony, jade and jasper. Most of us use some form of these purples when we design jewelry.
Here are some even more lovely lavenders to enjoy! Get out on the royal side and buy them all!

Purple is not my favorite color but it ranks right up there! So many pulchritudinous (have always wanted to use that word!) precious purple pretties to pick from. Thank you for including my earrings. Will share far and wide. Treats to the handsome Blu!

Fun blog post - purple is such a great color! Thanks, Julie and beautiful Blu, for this extra Countdown to Mother's Day promo. :) And thanks for including my earrings. Will be sharing, of course! Gonze sends treats to his Florida furpal!

Love purple! I'm a February baby so my birthstone is purple! I love your interesting and informative posts, Julie, and yes, I do remember your snail's spit post! Thanks you for all you do and thanks for including my hand made beads. Will share.